As users move to laptops in the home, they increasingly find themselves unable to locate their printer, scanner, external drive or other peripheral next to their computer. As such, the computer and peripheral cannot remain continuously connected, and cannot be physically located together. For example, a user would like the printer in the den while the computer is elsewhere.
Currently, a user can dedicate a second machine to host the peripheral devices, or provide a dedicated device such as a dedicated unit to host the device. In either case the “host” device effectively acts as an embedded computer, connecting to the home local area network (LAN), performing network processing, peripheral processing as needed by the device, and controlling the device through a wired connection. However, dedicated devices tend to be underpowered, hard to configure, and too expensive, so they are infrequently used, keeping the user from placing peripherals where they like.
Conversely, connecting peripheral devices directly to a computer offers great simplicity, and true plug and play capability. Just plug in the device to the computer, and it is recognized and configured. This is the experience that is universally desired, but unavailable to LAN devices that are not directly connected to the computer. Such a direct connection means the peripheral needs a separate wire for connection and prevents portability by keeping the peripheral tethered close to the computer.